The Oracle's Golden Kitty
by PinkWhirlWind
Summary: After the end of the first series... Youji saves Brad from the ocean.. hurtcomfort story almost pwp
1. Default Chapter

The Oracle's Golden Kitten  
  
They'd been lovers for months. It had started at the lowest point in Youji's life. Depression, a mistake, or two, and he'd been captured by Farfarello and Schuldig. Humiliation like he'd never known had soaked into him as he'd sat there, waiting for whatever fate had for him, black ribbon around his throat. Fate had been Crawford though, and fit together the way the ocean and sky settle together to make the horizon, so distant, and yet, really no distance between the air and water. It had been Youji's secret, Brad's secret.  
  
The temple was falling into the water. It was the end of the world. Youji did not know where Aya, Ken, Omi were. Schuldig knew where he was though. The red head hated him; this was something Youji didn't have much doubt about. The red head was fast too. He struck, his punch taking Youji in the side, sending him staggering back. That was when the world fell into the water with the temple.  
  
Brad, black hair laying so perfect and still around his face, fired his pistol. The trajectory was. off. It made Youji pause and think. He knew his teammates were, very likely not, on the other end of that trajectory. A dozen things that Crawford had whispered to him in their stolen moments clicked, and though Youji didn't really believe it, he understood that Crawford had fired at Weiss' enemy. It was the end of the world, and broken temple tilted, throwing Crawford up, back, glasses, pistol flying, as the end of the world sent the Oracle towards the wet hungry ocean.  
  
Youji ran in that direction, surprising the red head he fought against, perhaps, but he didn't care about pursuit. In that moment, all he cared about was seeing Crawford safely out of the water. In his mind, he had the layout of the temple, knew where to expect Aya, Ken, Omi, and he wished them well, wished he could reach out and make them safe, as he leapt from the solid floor of temple to the part that was twisting, tilting like a marble ice berg. Graceful as a cat, he ran along the edge of the broken side. Ocean, dark like one liquid night sky, endless, stretched out before Youji. Crawford in his white had not reached the surface of the angry roiling fury that the ocean had become. Youji's arms reached over his head fingers touching, even as his feet no longer touched the broken temple. If Crawford had gone into the swallowing ocean, Youji would go in after him.  
  
Cold, and rough, water hit Youji's neat dive with a roll of power that spun him, plunged him into the darkness. Arms out wide, he rolled like a rag doll. His spirit pulled back, floating comfortably in the ocean, watching himself sink uselessly in the black, even though living eyes would never see the dark dressed assassin body in the lightless ocean. It wasn't disturbing to him, to watch his body sink, rolled by the under current of ocean. Peaceful. But Then There Was A White flash. Brad Crawford. Youji zapped back into his body, air still held in burning lungs and stretched, arms pushing against the ocean, legs kicking, moving him. Fists grabbed onto white suit, pulled on white linen as if it were the only life line the world had ever had. Youji didn't have the air or the mental strength to scream, even mentally, that Brad couldn't leave him, couldn't leave him alone, that Youji couldn't bare it. That if Brad were dead, Youji wanted to go with him.  
  
It as fury at being left behind that gave him the strength, the luck to push them both up to the surface. Air rushed into his lungs, with water and salt. He got one arm around Brad's back, clutching the soggy, heavy, unconscious man to him, and they both dropped back under the water.  
  
It was a good twenty minutes later when Youji got them both onto the beach, rocky and hard. Lifting Crawford, getting to the top of the beach, to a phone, was harder. Distantly, Youji knew he had a broken rib. Academically he knew what disassociation was. Disassociation, it was what made it possible to move an unconscious Crawford into a cab and ignore broken ribs. Youji was a blank nothing until Crawford would wake, just in case the dark haired, gentle lover when no one was looking, didn't wake up at all. 


	2. two

  
  
Chapter Two  
  
Disclaimers: I don't own WK. Am just writing this for fun  
  
Youji woke, too quickly, making the room feel empty, hollow. Filled with sunlight, the sound of the ocean, flashes of white, it disoriented him. They were in the temple, fighting. Crawford!  
  
"Shhhh," a mellow, rum and coke voice, smooth and yet edged calmed, "Relax, Youji. You're safe."  
  
"Weiss!" Youji got a hand on the bed, yes, it was a bed, to push himself up only to have Brad's bare chest press him down into the soft mattress, to take his hand, lace their fingers together.  
  
"Weiss is safe. Fujimiya Aya, the sister, has woken. Ran is with her. Omi and Ken are in this house." Brad didn't smile, but there was no tension in his face, only calm. "We are free. Swartz and Weiss. Kritiker only knows about Ran, the rest are unknown to them. You are free, Youji."  
  
Youji leaned his head back, licked dry lips, green eyes loosing themselves in the patterns of ivy on the wall paper behind the bed. "I was always free."  
  
"Fair enough," Brad said, fingers pulling from Youji's to touch the blond's chin. "I love you."  
  
"You do? Still?" Youji left the wall paper, traded it for dark brown American eyes.  
  
"I am not a man to waver from my path. I will still make the world safe for Talents. Maybe that's not through chaos, however. Chaos might be dangerous to the people that Talents love."  
  
"I'm no talent," Youji said, hating the darkness that wanted to pull him under, deeper and faster than ocean he'd pulled Crawford from. His illusions were gone now. Weiss would know he slept with Crawford, would know that he needed Crawford, even if it meant the end of all the safe lies he'd lived, the end of himself.  
  
"You are loved by a Talent though," Crawford said, thumb moving gently over Youji's lips. "You did not betray them."  
  
"I left them to save what mattered to me." Youji closed his eyes.  
  
"And you changed the future. Omi and Ken fled, in time. Schuldig pulled Ran from the ocean. Look at me," Crawford commanded.  
  
Youji swallowed, looking in Crawford's eyes, the sunlight filled bedroom fell away. Emotion washed into Youji, shared emotion.  
  
"Once the world was empty, Youji. Once my world held only the need to count up my goals and destroy those who opposed me. And then there was you," Crawford said firmly, a feeling of warm acceptance. Forgiveness, love that faced him, knew him, walked through his very thoughts, knew his darker sexual fantasies, knew his crimes, knew his dreams, the things he longed for, and loved him, embraced him, ruthless love. Youji broke, crying as Crawford held him close, soothing tangled blond hair. "You changed my world, Youji. You, imperfect, reckless, adorable you. You remind me of who I might have been in a different world, rude and daring. I wish you could see you as I see you."  
  
Youji couldn't just then, face against Crawford's hard chest, one lanky arm wrapped around his lover, but then Crawford couldn't see himself with the love that Youji felt for him either. "I don't want to kill anymore."  
  
"Your desires are my goals, Youji." Crawford said, releasing the old goals, the goals that would have pried him away from this man who reminded him what it was to live. "You will not kill anymore. We will build a school. Would you like to help me build a school?"  
  
Youji held him tighter, not tight enough to hurt his ribs, but just tight enough to hold on. "A school? A school sounds good to me."  
  
They lay there, just letting the day carry them forward into a future that Crawford hadn't completely seen, and that Youji didn't completely reject. 


End file.
